Haul Road Analysis

Haul Road Analysis

Haul Road AI automatically detects the haul roads in your project and analyses them for grade, cross fall, width and other road condition parameters. This tutorial shows you how to open the tool, view the detected roads and analyse road grade.

To create haul road profiles, select the appropriate site, then click Haul Road AI in the left-side panel under Site Analytics and Survey.



After you click Haul Road AI, all the haul road analysis options appear in the left-side panel. The haul roads detected by the AI are highlighted in yellow on your project.


Grade: Turn on the Grade toggle to view the gradient of the haul road. A slider appears below the toggle. Use the slider to set the gradient limits according to your compliance requirements. The haul road is then colour coded based on the limits you have set.

To set exact values, click the expand icon next to the slider to open the Grade panel. Here you can edit the grade value for each colour, add or remove grade limits, and click Reset to restore the defaults or Done to apply your changes.

To check a specific location, hover over a section of the road. A pop up shows its length, grade, ratio, inclination and width.



To get grade analytics for a specific part of the haul road, use Report Areas. Click Add and choose one of the following options:
  1. Polygon: draw an area on the map to report on.
  2. Place beginning and ending: draw a line along a section of the haul road.
Both options are highlighted in the image above. In this example, we will look at the line option to view the profile options.


From the Haul Road section, several profile options are available, including Grade, Cross Fall, Road Width, Berm Height, and Pothole.

In this example, Grade is selected, which displays the grade profile in greater detail along the selected haul road section.

The other profile options can be selected in the same way and will display their respective measurements and analysis for the selected road section.

Each profile can also be exported as DXF  files using the respective EPSG coordinate reference system (CRS).


Notes
Similarly, crossfall, road width, safety berm height, and potholes can be easily identified using the Haul Road tool. The resulting data can also be exported in various formats.

Cross Fall: Cross fall is the side to side slope across the road surface. It is important for drainage and vehicle stability. Turn on the Cross Fall toggle to view the cross fall of the haul road. A slider appears below the toggle. Use the slider to set the cross fall limits according to your requirements. The haul road is then colour-coded based on the limits you have set.

To set exact values, click the expand icon next to the slider to open the Cross Fall panel. Here you can edit the cross fall value for each colour, add or remove cross fall limits, and click Reset to restore the defaults or Done to apply your changes.

To view the cross fall animation, switch from 2D to 3D view, then turn on the Animation toggle. The cross fall is then animated on the haul road.



Road Width: Turn on the Road Width toggle to view the width of the haul road. A slider appears below the toggle. Use the slider to set the road width limits according to your compliance requirements. The haul road is then colour-coded based on the limits you have set.

To set exact values, click the expand icon next to the slider to open the Road Width panel. Here you can edit the road width value for each colour, add or remove road width limits, and set the Slider Minimum and Slider Maximum values. Click Reset to restore the defaults or Done to apply your changes.


Berm Height: A berm is a raised mound of material along the edge of a haul road that acts as a safety barrier. Turn on the Berm Height toggle. A Run Berm AI option appears below it.

  1. Click Run Berm AI.
  2. Draw a polygon around the area of interest (AOI) by clicking on the map to place points.
  3. Double click to finish the polygon and save it. To stop drawing before you finish, click Cancel Drawing at the bottom left of the screen.
  4. After you save the polygon, three options appear at the bottom of the screen, and a message shows how many areas you have drawn (for example, "Berm AI: 1 area drawn"):
    • Add Another Area: draw one more polygon, so you can run the Berm AI on several areas together.
    • Run Berm AI: run the analysis on the areas you have drawn. The number in brackets shows how many areas will be analysed.
    • Cancel: discard the polygon drawing and close these options.
  5. After you click Run Berm AI, a pop up message appears to confirm that the AI has started. The results appear after some time, depending on the size of the area.


Berm Height Results: When the Berm AI finishes, the berms are shown along the road edges on the map, colour-coded based on the limits you have set. Use the slider to set the berm height limits according to your compliance requirements.

To check a specific location, hover over a section of the berm. A pop-up shows the berm height at that point, for example "Berm Height: 0.59m".



Pothole:

Turn on the Pothole toggle to view the potholes on the haul road. This analysis works only in 2D view and is not shown in 3D view, so switch to 2D view first. The AI shows the detected potholes as heatmap coloured dots on the map. Zoom in to a dot to see the area of that pothole in square metres (m²).

A slider appears below the toggle. Use the slider to set the pothole area limits according to your requirements. The potholes are then colour-coded based on the limits you have set.



Rutting, Spillage and Turn Radius

Use the Rutting, Spillage and Turn Radius toggles to analyse the road surface and curves of the haul road. These analyses work only in 2D view and are not shown in 3D view, so switch to 2D view first. Turn on the toggle for the option you want to view. A slider appears below the toggle. Use the slider to set the limits according to your requirements. The results are then colour coded based on the limits you have set.

Rutting: Identifies wheel-track ruts on the road surface.


Spillage: Identifies spilled material on the haul road.


Turn Radius: Analyses the radius of the curves along the haul road.


Report Area Options (Three-Dot Menu)

Each report area you add appears in the Report Areas list in the Haul Road AI panel. Click the three dot icon next to a report area to manage it and to download its analytics in different geometry formats. The menu has the following options: